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Chapter 9- An Unexpected Visitor
A minute later Severus was left alone to his thoughts. He didn't even bother trying to get some sleep, knowing any attempt would be futile and even if he did drift off his dreams would be haunted with thoughts of the future.
Instead Severus spent the night strengthening the wards around his house and making potions. The potions he brewed were very different from the healing ones for Harry he had made only the night before. These were potions of war- poly juice potions and various defensive and attack potions along with any others that had been useful in the last war.
That's were Minerva and Albus found him the next day, hunched over a bubbling cauldron with bloodshot eyes that told them he had been there all night. Albus sighed but had the sense not to comment.
Minerva busied herself making breakfast while they all waited for Harry to awake with growing apprehension. Finally at 8 am padded feet walking down the hall alerted them to his arrival.
He walked in with a yawn. "Good morning Mister Snape." He froze in his tracks when he saw Dumbledore sitting calmly on the couch, watching him with a sparkle in his eye.
"Hello Harry I'm Professor Dumbledore."
"I know who you are," Harry hissed, slowly moving away from Albus while keeping his eyes fixed on him.
Dumbledore sat there shocked by the malevolence in Harry's voice. The last time he had seen the boy was when he dropped him off at his relatives' house nearly ten years ago. That's when it hit Albus- the Dursleys, he had handed Harry right into the hands of his abusers.
A pang of guilt ran through Albus- but he couldn't have possibly known what they were capable. Not that you ever checked a cold voice reminded him. But the boy couldn't possibly know about that- he was far too young at the time to remember it.
"He has my memories," Severus stated coldly, "I'm not sure how many, but apparently it's enough."
Albus stared at the horrified boy desperately. There were so many memories, so many things he had already done wrong for both him and Severus.
Harry seemed to be struggling to understand what was going on. He looked up at Severus, searching for confirmation that he knew what he was doing but Severus wouldn't meet Harry's eyes. Harry's head whirled as all the memories that contained those twinkling blue eyes flashed through his mind- he saw Severus being brutally beaten by students and Albus doing nothing, he saw Severus begging Albus to save a woman with eyes like his and saw her lifeless form crumpled on the ground, he saw Severus with nothing left at Dumbledore's door being turned away again and again.
With a gasp Harry forcefully pushed away the memories, snapping back to the present. It was all too much, his breath quickened as tears streamed down his face. He didn't even feel the hand on his shoulder as Severus tried to calm him down. All he could see were the eyes like his filled with death and ice encased his heart.
A cold rage settled over Harry, and suddenly everything was crystal clear. His gaze snapped back up to the old man as the tears dried. He could feel his magic swelling up, the power filling the room. Instead of scaring him like it had before, Harry felt a surge of pride run through him, he was empowered, he could make Dumbledore pay.
Severus slowly removed his hand as he felt the energy shift in the room. He could feel the raw power pour out of Harry, but unlike the accidental bursts of energy from before this magic was controlled, Harry knew what he was doing. "Harry," he said softly, "Professor Dumbledore is only here to help. It's okay; he's no danger to you."
The words didn't seem to register with Harry as the power continued to fill the room, leaving the air buzzing. Every piece of furniture started to shake violently, even the walls. Dumbledore had his hand on his wand and was watching the boy warily.
"You killed my parents," Harry said in a deadly whisper.
Severus could tell Dumbledore hadn't been expecting that because his usually guarded face registered shock before morphing back into its mask. "Voldemort killed your parents," Dumbledore responded softly.
"Don't lie!" Harry yelled, as a rush of magic blew through the room, ruffling Albus's robes. Everything rattled so violently for a second that Severus was afraid that the roof was going to cave in but then everything went still.
Harry's face twisted into a smile but there was no hint of joy in his eyes. It reminded Severus terribly of the expression Voldemort had right before he cast an Avada Kedavra.
"You were supposed to protect them," Harry told Dumbledore in a soft voice, his eyes filled with darkness. "You failed just like you did with me and Mr. Snape."
Harry shook his head. "You shouldn't have come here." Before anyone could react Severus and his armchair were blown backwards through the open door of the kitchen, colliding with Minerva who had been standing in the doorway with her wand ready to take out Harry if needed. The door slammed shut behind them, sealing them into the kitchen.
"Harry!" Severus shouted, banging frantically on the door. When it didn't budge, he stepped back and pulled out his wand. "Bombarda," he shouted. He barely ducked in time as the flash of red reflected off the door. It hit the kitchen window and exploded, raining glass shards all over the floor.
Minerva joined him and attempted all the spells she knew, but their attempts were futile. They could hear the sound of a vicious battle going on inside but they couldn't help.
As soon as Severus was safely in the other room Harry had launched his attack. He threw energy at Dumbledore, relying solely on intuition.
Dumbledore threw up a shield, deflecting the magic up to the ceiling that instantly shattered upon impact, throwing chunks of broken wood through the room. Harry barely noticed the destruction, focusing solely on the victim of his attack.
The battle went on, Harry continuing to direct his power at Albus and Dumbledore easily deflecting it, thoroughly destroying the room in the process.
Harry was so blinded by rage that he just kept going until all of his power was gone. He gave one last punch, throwing the final remnants of his magic at Albus before collapsing onto his knees, panting heavily. He suddenly found his eyes filled with tears that he was too tired to hold back.
"He took everything from me," Harry muttered weakly as he heard Dumbledore approach. Dumbledore understood that he was no longer talking about him.
"Not everything my dear boy, not everything," Dumbledore responded kindly.
A second later the door caved in with a loud bang and Severus and Minerva rushed in with their wands raised, both looking quite unhinged. As soon as Severus saw Harry he sprinted to his side, kneeling down next to him.
"Are you alright?" he asked sharply, his eyes filled with concern.
When Harry didn't respond Dumbledore answered for him, "He is fine, just tired I would imagine. That was quite an attack." While he spoke Albus set to work with fixing the room, casting silent reparos. Minerva quickly joined in and soon wood splinters and scorched pieces of cloth were flying across the room to reform pieces of furniture and the ceiling and walls.
Severus pulled Harry's chin up to look at him, ensuring that he was truly alright. After casting numerous diagnosis spells and finding nothing wrong Severus pulled Harry tightly against his chest, hugging him like he would never let him go.
"Never do that again," he scolded Harry, but didn't loosen his grip.
As Snape hugged him a sudden memory of another dark haired man holding him close flashed across his mind and the damn was broken. Harry sobbed heavily against Severus, feeling like his world was slowly tearing apart. He cried and cried like he had never been able to do before. He cried until there were no tears left.
Finally he calmed himself and pulled away from Severus, feeling suddenly self-conscious. Severus had given him no signs that he had intended to punish him yet, but Harry had just attacked someone on purpose and practically destroyed his house.
Harry stared pointedly at the floor and noticed that it was no longer covered in shattered furniture. He looked up in surprise and found the room put back together, looking as if the attack had never happened.
Minerva and Albus were sitting quietly on the couch together and quickly looked away as they felt Harry's eyes, pretending they hadn't been watching Severus's tender embrace the whole time.
"So," Dumbledore said merrily after a moment, "how about some breakfast?"
Everyone readily agreed, silently deciding to ignore the rough beginning to the morning. A quick reheating spell later they were all chowing down scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausages and Harry was chugging a small collection of potions (with a small piece of chocolate after). The morning passed with no further incidents.
